carpenter - 7-16-2007 at 08:04 PM
As my last oud was a rehab, keeping the bowl, I figured I'd better build a bowl from scratch so I might know more what I was talking about. I have
some nice wood that I didn't want to (possibly) waste exploring, and had a pile of alder waiting for a use - nice, plain wood - and I could look for
gopher holes and banana peels in the process without a lot of anxiety. It turned out well, I think, and I solved some problems, as well as came up
with some questions.
Here is the finished pegbox; maple sides, ebony endcap, boxwood pegs. The pegs came stained and finished. I had hopes that it was only skin deep,
which it was, and I got a nice red-and-white kind of thing going on. The back panel is slightly-curly madrone; the neck is alder with a beech spline.
I've had a heck of a time in the past with that peg shaver chattering some, but I thought a little harder, and put the tiniest bevel on the flat side
of the edge - nice and silky now, with a great fit. I clamp a small machinist's clamp on the adjustable part each time I change the setting, which
also helps. I made the shafts of each of the pegs a wee bit smaller, from the neck to the end - might be hard to see, but it adds a little visual
lightness somehow. I like it. Additionally, I made sure the spline was the thickness of my table saw's blade kerf - that saved a bunch of fuss later.
carpenter - 7-16-2007 at 08:18 PM
I should mention - if you're going to post a photo, and are using Photoshop, the "Save for Web" option is well worth looking at. The photo of the
pegbox was initially 677k; using the Save for Web feature at "40 quality" .jpg knocked it down to 56k; quicker loading, and I sure can't tell any
difference in quality. If everybody knew that already, sorry.
Here's the partially-assembled bowl. So far, so good; noteworthy is the little block on the tailblock. It's right there where the rib points meet.
There's enough going on attention-wise gluing up the ribs, one less alignment to think about was a good thing. Worked well. I used tape to hold it in
place, but a little dot of hide glue with a piece of paper would be easy enough to pop off later, as well as being a bit more firm.
carpenter - 7-16-2007 at 08:41 PM
Having the pointy end of the ribs taken care of, I lost patience at the other end. Push pins, tacks, tape, and make-do clamping schemes just weren't
making it. I came up with this idea late in the process, but it seems to work fine; next oud (yes!) should go a lot smoother. I basically made another
neck block, with the radius centers lining up along the top of the fixture. I laminated the lower block from some 1x scraps for a nice tight fit with
the beam. A couple of drywall screws hold it in place, but once I finalize the placement, I'll glue it also. Inset shows a clamp on the job; I used a
shaped, leather-lined caul on the ribs, with a little strip of sticky-back sandpaper on the clamp pads. (Could be everybody has already figured this
out by now, too, but I got to feel clever for a couple of minutes. Priceless!)
Having a solid foundation, real plumb-and-square blocks, accurate centerlines, all go a long way. My only real problem building the bowl was
correcting accumulated or repeated error - looking back, the first rib must've had a mm. or two twist or kink in it, no matter how good it looked.
While I probably won't subscribe to the full bulkhead mold treatment, I'll definitely do one form at the widest point of the bowl, just to make sure
that first, the initial middle is where it's supposed to be, and second, for a check on the last two ribs.
carpenter - 7-16-2007 at 08:56 PM
When it came time to figure out the top two ribs, I clamped and glued a piece of flexible, transparent plastic to the next-to-last ribs and bowl and
drew the line onto the plastic with a Sharpie marker (comes off with alcohol), transferred to paper, transferred to the rib wood. Pretty slick, even
if the long way around - although I now had a line on the outside of the top ribs-to-be. Grr. I came up with this bandsaw jig, tall enough so the rib
curve clears the table. Again, probably common knowledge.
The clamps here are KantTwist, just the handiest, nicest clamps ... your local machine shop supply should have them, from 1" opening on up, swiveling
notched jaws. I don't even know where my iron C clamps are any more, these are so much better. I use them mainly for holding jigs and fixtures on the
drill press and bandsaw, wherever things absolutely can't move. Lots of crushing potential for wood, a little care there is good.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 05:18 AM
I had the rose laser-cut. $35 or three days with a jeweler's saw was an easy choice. 3/32" beech. I put the drawing alongside here - they told me the
laser would cut away the black; it looks to me like it cut right on the edge, taking a little white; some of those points are getting mighty thin
compared to the original. Next time I'll adjust accordingly.
The edges of the cut are somewhat scorched, brown, not black. I don't mind it; it gives a paper-thin illusion that I kind of like. The edges of the
cut are nice and smooth. I definitely enjoyed doing the drawing - more than sawing.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 05:57 AM
Gluing the neck, and the improved oud stand. I made a fitted pine block for the pegbox end, and used rice paper for the paper strips - strong stuff. I
put the paper through our wastebasket-top paper shredder and got a lifetime supply of 1/4" strips, although at 58, "lifetime supply" doesn't have the
same glow it did at 28.
Fitting the braces went as well as can be expected; I used the Dr Oud book arched style. I've seen pictures here of "scooped out" braces, and I'm
curious if they have been discussed anywhere on the Forum, theory or practice. I can't find anything.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 06:00 AM
Six coats of good old Tru Oil on, ten coats total.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 06:12 AM
The completed oud, 1 lb 14 3/4 oz/874 g; weighs less than my mandolin! Alder back, neck and pickguard, fir top, Port Orford cedar braces, Brazilian
cherry fingerboard, beech neck spline and rose, mahogany and maple edge binding and soundhole purfling, maple pegbox sides, madrone pegbox back,
walnut bridge, Pyramid strings. Sounds pretty good to me, and I can hear some improvement in just a month. I had a couple of friends who can play give
it a try, and they liked it. Plus I got to hear it from the front. It sure won't fill a concert hall, but should be a decent parlor instrument.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 06:17 AM
The pegbox completed. I like the boxwood pegs a lot, they're smooth-running in the maple. The nut is an ebony place holder/spacing pattern for now;
bone nut to come.
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 06:21 AM
Completed rose and purfling.
Beautiful
LeeVaris - 7-17-2007 at 06:52 AM
Lovely oud – very elegant in its simplicity. I like the very simple little stand as well. Keep going – I'm sure we'd all like to see more of your
ceations! 
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 07:58 AM
Thanks so much, Lee, appreciate the feedback. I definitely have to thank Mike foremost for having the Forums - I wouldn't have got this far without
them. More stuff is at artcarpstudio.com, bring your spare time.
I have to include one good idea I had - holding the neck for shaping. I had the neck blank sawn to dimension and taper, sawed it in half, then clamped
it up with the spline. Then I struck the appropriate arc, A, on each end with a compass, and drew 45-degree tangents, B, and connected those lines
along the length of the block. Removed the clamps and spline, sawed the pegbox notch, glued the blank halves up with the spline - the arc disappears
on the pegbox end, so it's good to have those lines along the length first. The neck blank is attached to the hi-tech stand (shown in the inset) with
a couple of drywall screws, just short enough to hold the neck securely; the stand is tall enough to keep from bonking the plane on the vise. Planed
away the shaded portion to the arc, leaving me with an octagon. kept planing away the points - sixteen-agon, thirtytwo-agon, etc., down to a cylinder
(I guess it's really a cone). So I got a nice, even-tapered, even-profiled neck ready for minimal sanding. Sure, there's two little screw holes in the
neck, but they're hidden under the fingerboard - small price to pay for the ease of the process. The whole planing surface is out in the open, and
with raking light, it's easy to check for lumps and flat areas.
Jonathan - 7-17-2007 at 11:10 AM
Wow. Stunningly beautiful.
You mentioned that you had ten coats of sealer on the bowl, 6 of which were truoil. What were the other 4? Did you use a sealer, or just finish?
Alder may be a plain wood, but you really brought out the beauty in it.
Can you give any more info on the laser cutting of the rosette? Who did you use? What format was the file that you submitted it in? I would like to
try this as well for an oud, but would rather use a different material--like bone, mircata, or similar. Not sure how that would work. What kind of
wood did you use for the rosette? Was it a plywood?
Thanks for sharing the photos, and info. I hope we can hear a sound sample down the road.
Marina - 7-17-2007 at 11:18 AM
beautiful
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 11:47 AM
Thanks, Jonathan. The finish is all Tru Oil; I just took the photo part way through, is all. Just the Tru Oil, no primer or sealer. I 'sanded' between
coats with fine sponge-backed abrasives and white Scotch-Brite; 0000 steel wool cut a little too much for my taste. That alder turned into solidified
honey - I like the look a lot.
Let The Machines Do The Work! For the laser cutting, I used a Eugene company - Pacific Engraving, (541) 988-3599, or (541) 221-9937,
pacificengraving.com. Kathy Burton is the woman's name there; I asked, and she said she'd be interested in doing more rose work, found the instrument
most interesting, and could deal with mail, phone, or e-orders (at least phone and e-inquiries). What a champ!
I'm so old-school, I gave her a very clean paper copy, which was just fine. She scanned it, and turned it into some flavor of Corel Draw file (I don't
recall just what format, something vector-based) to drive the laser. She had samples in the shop, including stone, so 'd imagine bone, etc., wouldn't
be that much of a problem. You'd have to ask. She did want a small sample of the material to test the cut first.
You could probably find somebody local to you, also. That'd be my choice, just so I could talk with them, see what their requirements are - plus check
out the shop and samples.
The quality of the drawing (or file) appears to be the most important thing. I did the final drawing on coated paper, made it as clean as (I thought)
possible at 200%, then reduced it to full-size, and she still cleaned up some eeny-weeny spots on the scan. If the drawing's really dirty, the price
goes up for cleaning, as the laser will cut wherever there's a distinct black. It's a pretty cool process; the leftovers are fun little puzzle pieces,
not like it burns up the black areas.
Let me know what happens. I'd like to hear a sound sample, myself, but I don't have any recording capability - you'll have to take my word for it for
now (heh).
carpenter - 7-17-2007 at 12:12 PM
Sorry - thanks, Marina. Must've got that while I was replying to Jonathan.
Jonathan - the wood for the rose is flat-sawn Euro beech, 3/32" thick; possibly a small mistake there - it wanted to warp from the humidity changes; a
little problem holding it flat on the laser outfit. They gave it a little squirt of water mist, all's well. I'd go for quartersawn next time.
Also, my error - the soundhole purfling is alder and mahogany, not maple. Got in a hurry.
Speaking of plywood, I got a friend's business card a while back - he works in the recycled wood products industry - and it was walnut! I asked; he
said it was 3-ply, 1/64". Whew. Guess anything's possible. Pretty cool-looking card, a real attention-getter.
oudplayer - 7-17-2007 at 12:28 PM
Very nice it looks great and simple, if you ask me the simpaler it is the beter it looks .
thx sammy
Melbourne - 7-18-2007 at 03:50 AM
wow its beautiful. It's the albino oud 
carpenter - 7-18-2007 at 07:07 AM
Of course, I prefer "golden," but I'll take "albino." Thanks.
I also agree with the "simpler is better" outlook (obviously).
SamirCanada - 7-18-2007 at 07:39 AM
looks nice my friend
what's the scale lenght?
carpenter - 7-18-2007 at 07:58 AM
60.5 cm/23 7/8"
SamirCanada - 7-18-2007 at 08:17 PM
thanks 
Microber - 7-19-2007 at 07:01 AM
Wonderful oud.
I like the colour of pickgard.
carpenter - 7-19-2007 at 10:59 AM
Thanks; that's also alder, but from a different stick. I was expecting more of the amber color, like the bowl, but you never know; alder's kinda
funny. Like most people, I think of it as a rather plain-figured wood, but here's a picture of some curly alder I used as an inlay on a hurdy-gurdy
keybox lid. An okay photo - right where the figure's most visible, that's where the most glare happens. Dang. A friend of mine saved the wood from his
mill's burn pile 15 or so years ago. There's a goodly amount of it left, anybody's interested, we could talk.
Mike - 7-19-2007 at 07:44 PM
Very very lovely work Jim. I loved reading about your progress and some of your innovative building techniques. I agree, this oud is simple, yet very
elegant and the attention to detail is awesome. End result: a beautiful instrument no doubt. Way to go my friend! By the way, to me loud doesn't
necessarily mean good. I'm sure this oud sounds beautiful and in time will attain the tarab that we have come to know and love about this instrument.
Thanks again for sharing your project with us.
abusin - 7-20-2007 at 07:12 AM
Beautiful oud I like the gold glow very much
its a master piece buddy, rose, face, fboard and pick guard simple creation
I also love the pegbox, the pegs are fantastic
any chance for a soud file at all?
best regards
Awad
Jameel - 7-20-2007 at 08:37 AM
How on earth did I miss this post all week!?
Great looking oud Jim, and the whole presentation of the thread is a treat as well. I'm glad someone finally made the clamping-rig for the neck block.
I've been meaning to make something like that for a long time. The paradox with such things is that when the need arises you almost always make due
with what you have (push pins etc), but when you finally make the jig the right way you kick yourself the first time you use it for not making it
sooner. I could spend a week or two just on jigs. Wouldn't that be nice?
I like your neck shaping process. I used a similar one for the #3 cherry oud, ala Robert Lundberg, where he glues (with newspaper between) the whole
neck blank to a scrap and uses that to shape the neck and for clamping the veneer down. I'll have to try your method too. The frustration saved with
such devices more than offsets the time used in making them.
What a great forum for oud-makers. I wish there were more out there who would contribute.
Jameel - 7-20-2007 at 08:41 AM
I love this picture....all that's missing is a glass of wine, a bunch of grapes, and some old parchment sheets of music....)
[img]http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=6429&pid=38816[/img]
carpenter - 7-20-2007 at 01:33 PM
Ah, yes, my Dutch Masters Period - not the cigars ...
Thanks, all, for the encouragement and kind words. Sound files? I embarrass myself every time I pick it up; I can't play beyond scales and fiddle
tunes. I've been putting in study time with printouts from Maqam World, but I think it might be genetic or cultural; growing up hearing the material
regularly would be a big plus (as opposed to Grand Old Opry and The Who here). I'll try to find a real, willing player and get something recorded.
The neck block idea is kind of cool. Every time I find myself getting out my language, I start looking around for a better way. Building should be
enjoyable, not frustrating. I've picked so much up from the forums, I like to share what little I've figured out, what eased my way. If it's a spur to
someone's further investigation and improvement, so much the better. I definitely don't have all the answers, but between us, who knows? Maybe we do.
Wait 'til the next one! I have some figured wood (I know - "gasp!") ready and waiting.
carpenter - 7-20-2007 at 01:37 PM
Also, Jameel, I think a thread on Jigs and Fixtures would be a treat! Go ahead, I'll catch up.
meazaf - 9-18-2007 at 03:07 PM
its very nice oud keep going for good
Fazhu - 9-18-2007 at 07:21 PM
Beautiful oud Jim! I love the simplicity of it. Can you tell me more about the pegs? Did you order them and if so from where? Thanks for sharing.
carpenter - 9-18-2007 at 08:58 PM
Thanks Fazhu. The pegs are boxwood; I got them through the local music store, the owner says they're ultimately from China. I don't know where he gets
them, some huge supplier of musical everything. I'll ask. They are kind of a pretty Hill-style peg, yes?
A friend of mine makes high-end (!) violins, and he has some guy in England turn his boxwood peg and endpin sets; they're ammonia fumed for the color,
while these here are merely stained and finished.
Fazhu - 9-19-2007 at 08:27 AM
Jim, I would appreciate it if you asked the music store owner. I have been having a hard time finding a source for lute/oud pegs on the net. Anybody
else know of a place?
carpenter - 9-19-2007 at 09:19 AM
I just called the owner - he gets them from Saga in San Francisco, also says they're mainly a wholesaler, so you'll probably have to get to them
through a local dealer, likely have to meet a $ minimum order.
Don't know about real lute/oud pegs; these are violin pegs. Good luck with the search; you could post sources if you find them. Thanks.